Asus wants to make your Windows 8 tablet dreams come true, with the announcement of the Asus Vivo Tab and the Asus Vivo Tab RT. The new Transformer-style Windows 8 tablets were announced today at IFA 2012 in Berlin.

The Transformer line has been successful for Asus, helping to drive its Android tablet business, so it's no surprise to see the same concept being applied for Windows 8, for those eagerly awaiting the October launch of Microsoft's OS.

Of course, there are two versions of the Vivo Tab: a straight Windows 8 version and an RT version.

The two tablets are very close in design, but differ in specification. We got our hands on both tablets at the launch, to bring you a glittering gallery of hardware shots and pass on our first impressions.

The smaller of the two is the Asus Vivo Tab RT, pictured first in our gallery below.

It is based around a 10.1-inch 1366 x 768 resolution display and is powered by the Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset, with 2GB RAM, so is very much the mobile device.

In the hand it feels sturdy and well constructed, the metal finish to the back giving it a good-quality feel. The buttons around the side of the tablet, and the build of the accompanying keyboard feel assured: this is Asus showing what it's learnt from the Transformer.

The docking mechanism is solid, but easily released so that when the tablet is in place it feels like a notebook. The Super IPS+ display looked fantastic, but we'll save any real judgement until we can get the Asus Vivo Tab RT in for a full review.

The second of the two devices is the fully-fledged Windows 8 tablet. This time it sports an 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display with Wacom digitiser and is powered by next-generation Intel Atom hardware, with 2GB RAM.

Like its smaller sibling, it feels well built and finished. The metal back again makes this feel like a premium device. It might be, in effect, the netbook evolved, but it's so much more than that.

The keyboard is a good size and offers a nice typing action, with the docking mechanism again feeling secure. It's well balanced too, so should make for a practical mobile working machine.

We don't have exact pricing for these new machines from Asus, but you can expect them to be available when Windows 8 comes to market.

We will, of course, be bringing you a full review of the Asus Vivo Tab and the Asus Vivo Tab RT closer to launch.